Grown in temperate regions, apples are one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. There are…

300g mixed sultanas and raisins

Method

Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line the bottom of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Beat the first seven ingredients together in a large bowl (electric hand- beaters are best for this), until pale and thick. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the fruit until evenly combined.

Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 50 mins-1 hr or until the cake is dark golden, springy to the touch and has shrunk away from the tin slightly. A skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean when it’s ready. Cool completely before decorating. Will keep, wrapped in an airtight container or iced, for up to a week, or can be frozen un-iced for up to a month – defrost fully before decorating.

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Comments, questions and tips

Comments (107)

futureblossom25th Apr, 2016

3.75

My favourite fruit cake recipe, thanks Ms Hornby. I usually soak sultanas and raisins (in tea or whatever you fancy) but also use prunes and sometimes apricots (unsoaked as they are normally squidgy-er). I make bigger cakes and it does take a long time to cook so don't make when you're in a hurry! Covering with foil from the beginning and taking it off carefully after about an hour or so seems to work well (this makes 'wet' cakes rise up nice and evenly). Using some Chinese five spice powder as well as the mixed spice is a tasty twist if you're a spice fan like me.

Pre soaked fruit in tea and brandy, then followed recipe. Baked in stated time and turned out perfectly. Definitely tasted better for keeping, ( five days). Really lovely flavour, lots of good comments, will make again.

Just made this cake for Macmillan coffee morning. Oh dear what a mess I had a hunch this was not going to be good after grating the 2 apples . But I thought stick to recipe , as others have said cooking time not long enough. I gave it about an extra 25 minutes but the whole cake fell to bits when it came out of tin. It does appear to have more a pudding texture than cake. Very disappointing!! My husband will eat it with custard!! I wouldn't risk it for Christmas or a Wedding.

I really liked this recipe but the 20cm cake tin was not big enough - 22cm would have been better as some of the filling spilled over the edges burnt a little. The cake tasted really nice though and I only used one apple because it was quite large. Also the cooking time was 90 mins and not 1 hour. I too soaked the fruit in cherry brandy the night before which I think helped moisture and flavour.

Delicious! Light and moist. I soaked the fruit in alcohol the night before and added a teaspoon of ground ginger. I was also heavy handed with the spice and added a teaspoon of vanilla essence. It took about 1 hour 20 minutes to bake and was so easy to make.

A really delicious cake, so moist because of the apple. I used a mix of cinnamon and some freshly grated ginger as well as a mix of sultanas, apricots, dates and prunes. Fab! The whole family loved it. I'll definitely do this one again.

Have just made this again today, my third making of this cake in a new house and with a new range cooker! I used Tesco's pre soaked dried fruit mix and also soaked it in cherry brandy overnight which made the fruit lovely and plump and juicy. Used 400g of this and just one apple. I put the grated apple in a sieve and squeezed out as much juice as possible. The cake took 2 hours to cook at fan 160 which I was very surprised about but as it cooked nice and evenly I won't moan too much! Once the cake was cooled, I used a skewer to make holes in it and fed it a couple of tablespoons of cherry brandy. Then allowed it to dry a bit and double wrapped it in baking parchment then foil and into an airtight container it goes. I've baked this late this year so probably another feed or two before Xmas don't want it too soggy!

I left out the apple and instead used Sainsbury's Mixed Fruit with Cranberries & Apricots... It tasted absolutely amazing but my cake sunk both times I have tried this! Does anyone know why this could be? Thanks! (Definitely recommend though!)

This is a lovely tasting cake, I left the treacle out as I forgot it! no detriment to the taste though. Took longer that time stated but I read this from previous posts and for some reason the currants and sultanas sunk! Not one of my usual problems, did anyone else find this?

This is a lovely tasting cake, I left out the treacle (forgot it!) but to no detriment to the taste. The only thing I found, apart from it taking longer than stated to bake, was that the dried fruit sunk! Not one of my usual problems, don't really know why, did anyone else find this?

What a delicious cake! The grated apple makes all the difference. I used mixed dried fruit (raisins, currants, apricots and cranberries) and molasses in place of treacle - still turned out very good. I too noticed that it was very crumbly the first two days but as it aged the cake held together better. Tasted better too (like all fruit cakes)! It doesn't need icing, just dust with some icing sugar.

Questions (4)

I left out the apple and instead used Sainsbury's Mixed Fruit with Cranberries & Apricots... It tasted absolutely amazing but my cake sunk both times I have tried this! Does anyone know why this could be? Thanks! (Definitely recommend though!)

Hi there, thanks for your question. When a cake sinks in the middle it is usually for one these three main reasons: 1/ The oven door has been opened before the cake has set. 2/ The cake didn't go in the oven as soon as the mixture was ready. 3/ There's too much raising agent in the mixture.

Hi...I am thinking of making this recipe to use as individual christmas cakes....im hoping to make them pretty soon , and was wondering once made how long these would last??? Thanks in advance for the reply :)

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